Exercising



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. I. THAYER.

EXERGISING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 17,1891.

lm/ Mama I QM QM flit/ 66i lZ;uLrI#T@ en /M 7/ 21' (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. I. THAYER.

BXEBGISING MACHINE.

N0. 448,305. Patented Mar. 17, 1891.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. I. THAYER. EXERGISING MAGHINE.

Patented Mar. 17,1891.

am am jlfi'tdlraizgllzaym 2%. MW W UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

ALFRED IRVING TI-IAYER, OF NEW'ARK, NElV JERSEY.

EXERCISING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,305, dated March. 17, 1891.

Application filed October 2'7, 1890. Serial No. 369,451. (No model.)

To Cl/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED IRVING THAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Health-Exercising Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form' a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to secure a more convenient and inexpensive exercising-machine and one that can be arranged in an out-of-tl1e-way position-such as that of a closet-doorwaywithout occupying much space therein, and may be arranged or the parts thereof assembled with facility and ease by one inexperienced in mechanical operations, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which will be hereinafter set forth in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved exercising-machine and in the peculiar arrangements and combinations of parts thereof, substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embodied in the clauses of the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved device.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3

is a side elevation of the device showing line as. Fig. 10 is a detail of aweight-carrier and weights, the raising of which requires the exertion which is deemed to be beneficial as an exercise. Fig. 11 is a detail of apulley which may be employed, and Figs. 12 and 13 are details of a safety-catch which may be used in connection with the pulley-rope and hand-rope bar. Figs. 14 and 15 illustrate constructions which I prefer to employ under certain conditions.

In said drawings,a indicatesa doorway, b the top or heading, and c the floor thereof. To the heading Z) and the floor c of said doorway are secured hooks d c or their equivalents, and these are the only essential means of fastening the apparatus to the top and bottom of the doorway, and are the parts which carry the weight or draft on the machine, and thus the door-trimmings, casings, or other furniture are not to any material extent injured, and comparatively little floor space is occupied. The upper hook (1 serves as a keeper or stay for the top plate f, the shank cl, Fig. 4, of which is provided with a shoulder or bearing 1 and passes through a central hole f Fig. 5, in said top plate into the frame-work of the doorway. The said shoulder or bearing engages the under side of said plate f, and when pressure is brought to bear thereon in screwing the hook (Z home the spurs f are forced into the wood-work, so that the said plate cannot turn pivotally 011 the said shank. At the opposite ends of the plate f, depending therefrom, are hooks g g, to which the upper ends of the guide-wires h hare attached, the said hooks and guide-wires being ordinarily from three to four inches apart. The lower ends of the said guide-wires are secured on the hooked ends z" t" of a coupling-piece 11. Said coupling-piece is of a length and adaptation to hold the lower ends of the wires apart a distance uniform with the upper ends, the wires being thus held in a parallel relation, the advantage of which will be hereinafter made clearly apparent.

At the center of the coupling-piece is an eye t Fig. 8, in which a screweye j is secured. A similar screw-eye j is secured in the hook c in the floor, and the two saidscrew-eyes or hooks j and j are coupled by a turn-buckle 7;, by means of which the same may be brought togetherv and the desired tension be thus brought upon the wires h, so that the latter ICO will be rendered rigid and firm to serve as guides for the sliding weights w, hereinafter or carrier 0', having a shoulder or seat 8 at the bottom to support said weights, and a hook or eyeZ at the upper end to engage with a draft cord or wire m, which extends upward from said carrier 0' over a sheave n, journaled in a block or carrier 0, suspended from the hook (Z aforesaid, as will be readily understood upon reference to the drawings. The end of the draft cord or wire which passes over said sheave n is connected with the or-' dinary handle wires or cords p by means of an S-hook g, which carries an elastic button or buffer g, which serves as a cushion to relieve the sheave from the force of the shock in case the weights should accidentally drop suddenly in consequence of the handles slipping from the hands of the operator or otherwise. Said buffers, which are in the form of rings, also serve to prevent detachment from the bar (1 by closing the openings in the said S-h-ook.

In order to render the apparatus capable of being worked from the lower end as well as from the top I employ another sheavet and carrier or block similar to the one above described, which engages with the hook e, screwed into the floor, as will be understood upon reference to Figs. 2 and 3,in which case the draft-cord is lengthened and is passed around the bottom sheave and then connected with the handle cords or wires, as seen in Fig. 3.

It will be noticed that the weights are of peculiar construction, they being concavoconvex in form and nested into one another, as indicated in Fig. 10, the initial or bottom weight being designed to be rigidlyor permanently secured to the carrier 7 and the others to be attached and removed at pleasure or as the strength of the person exercising requires. To accomplish this each weight is provided with a groove or opening to therein,

cut vertically at one side thereof and extending from the periphery to the cent-er and wide enough to admit the passage of the rod or carrier, as will be understood upon reference to Figs. 1 and 10. Thus the weights can be readily slipped on or from the carrier. This opening w is also sufficiently wide to allow of the draft rope or cord m to work therein, as in Figs. 3 and 15.

Uponopposite sides of the weight-s and at right angles with the aforesaid groove to are two other grooves or notches 10 comparatively shallow but sufficiently deep to admit the passage of the guide-Wires h, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 10, the depth of said grooves being indicated by the dotted vertical lines in said figure. The said guide-wires prevent the weights from turning or swaying on the draft-cord as they move up and down while exercising. The weights are adjusted upon the carrier so as to bring the first-described grooves w in front, as indicated in Fig. 3, so that when the apparatusis worked from the bottom said groove serves to admit of the free passage of the draft-cord therethrough', thereby avoiding friction, as will be understood.

The hooks cl and e are. each made double or with two seats cl (1 Fig. 4, the object of which is to provide a seat for the sheave-carrier in operating the apparatus either from the top or bottom. In the former case, Fig. 2, it will be observed that the sheave at the top is suspended from the inner hook or seat. Vhen thus arranged and the weight of a person exercising is thrown upon the draft-cord m, the sheave n will be drawn forward or outward toward the operator, and consequently said draft-cord vertically below the pulley or sheave will be brought into the plane of the two guide-wires h h, thereby effecting a direct vertical lift upon the weights, so that the latter will not be drawn laterally against the guide-wires. Thus the frictional contact of said weights and guide-wires will be reduced to a minimum; but when. the draft is over the pulley t at the bottom the pulley a must be brought forward to secure such a direct draft. The bearings of said weights where the guidewires come in contact therewith are cushioned or provided with some such material as leather, which tends to prevent any noise being produced as the weights slide on the wires. I also prefer to provide anon-sonorous lining or padding 10 to be interposed between the weights, as shown in Fig. 10. The said lining or padding may be cemented to the upper or concave side of the weights, as shown, or be otherwise applied or arranged.

When it is desired to increase the scope of the machine or to afford to the operator greater freedom of movement, I remove the sheave or pulley from the bottom of the apparatus and attachit to the weight-carrier r, as in Figs. 14 and 15. I also remove the draftcord m from said weight-carrier and attach it to the inner seat of the hook at the top and from thence pass it down around the sheave or pulley and over the sheave at the top, in which case it is designed to be worked from the top, as shown. The same result, however, can be obtained in working it from the bottom by extending the draft-cord around another sheave or pulley located at the bottom, as illustrated in Fig. 15. In both cases the guide-wires 72. remain the same and perform the functions as above, though they are not shown in full in Figs. 14.- and 15, that the illustrations may not be obscured.

On the wires 77. h, at the top and bottoi thereof, are arranged rubber buffers a a These are in the form of rubber balls preferably, and may be employed in connection with interposed springs a Similar cushions or buffers may be arranged on the said wires at the lower limit of movement of the sliding weights, as at a.

The turn-buckles are prevented from working loose to produce a slack in the guidewires by lock-nuts Z, Figs. 1 and 7.

ing-screw adapted to support said plate and hold it to the doorway, heading, or other upper bearing, and providing means to receive a pulley or sheave, a lower bearing 6, adapted to be screwed into the floor, a coupling i for the guide-wires, said guide-wires held in a parallel relation, and means for stretching or tightening said wires, a draft cord and weights, said parts being arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an exercising apparatus, the combination, with a pair of guide-wires, of a plate having means 9 g to receive said wires at their upper extremities and a single screw for holding said plat-e to the heading, the said screw providing means for supporting the upper pulley, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In an exercising-machine, the combination, with the plate f, having means to receive and hold the guide-wires, of a hook cl, adapted to support said plate and provided with seats d and d substantially as set forth.

at. In combination, in an exercising-machine, a plate f, arranged horizontally and having depending wire-supports and a central sheave-support, wires extending downward from said wire-supports and at their lower ends held in a parallel relation by a coupling-piece 'i, having a central eye, a turn-buckle, and a floor-support e, a Weightcarrier, and draft cords and weights having opposite notches to receive the guide-wires, and suitable pulleys, said parts being arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. In an exercising-machine substantially such as herein described, the combination, with guide-wires and turn-buckle, of a coupling-piece having a central eye and hooked opposite ends, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. In an exercising-machine, the combination, with the lower ends of the draft-wires, of a coupling-piece, turn-buckle, floor-support 6, having a double hook, a sheave, and draftcord, all said parts being arranged and combined substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth and shown.

7. In an exercising-machine, guide-wires h h, a bar f, coupling the same at the top, a central support (I, holding said bar f to the heading and providing means to support an upper pulley, means for coupling the lower ends of said wires and securing said coupling means to the floor, a floor pulley-weight, and draft-cord, arranged and combined substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. In an exercising-machine, the combination, with the draft rope or cord thereof, the hand-rope bar, and the hand-ropes, of an S- hook for catching the hand-rope bar to the draft cord or rope and a rubber or elastic ring or bufier to prevent detachment of said rope or cord from said bar and cushion the contact of the said bar with the pulley, substantially as set forth.

0. In an exercising-machine, the combination, with the guide-wires h' 7L and weights sliding thereon, of elastic or cushion-like buffers arranged on said wires, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination,withthe weight-guides and reciprocating weights, of rubbers arranged on said guides in the course or track of said weights and spiral springs interposed therebetween, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

11. In combination with the weights of an exercisingmachine and the weight-carriers thereof, an upper and a bottom bearing or support, pulleys arranged on said upper and bottom supports and on said weight-carrier, and a draft-rope secured to said top bearing and passing around the sheave of the weightcarrier, said upper pulley, and said bottom pulley, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

12. In an eXercising-machine, in combination with draft-cord, weight, and pulley, a pair of guide-wires, coupling-bars at the top and bottom of said wires, and central hooked screws holding said bars to the floor and heading, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

' ALFRED IRVING TI-IAYER.

lVitnesses:

OLIVER DRAKE, OSCAR A. MICHEL. 

